The 10 most overrated fighters in UFC history

#4 Tank Abbott

Tank Abbott was pushed as a big star for almost a decade

In the early days of the UFC few fighters were pushed as hard as Tank Abbott.

The former street fighter burst onto the scene with two wins – and a large amount of charisma – in the tournament at UFC 6, and although he lost in the finals to Oleg Taktarov, he had firmly ingrained himself into the conscience of the UFC fans.

And so the UFC brass pushed him as the big star over the next few years following the departures of Royce Gracie and Ken Shamrock, despite him not being anywhere near as good a fighter as the likes of Don Frye and Mark Coleman.

Abbott was given marquee matches constantly and even fought for the UFC Heavyweight title despite coming off two losses.

He lost that fight – to Maurice Smith – too, and eventually departed the UFC in late 1998 with an overall record of 8-7.

After an ill-advised run in professional wrestling, however, Zuffa decided to bring him back in 2003 in an attempt to recapture their old fanbase and replicate the successful return of Ken Shamrock.

It didn’t work as Abbott lost all three of his comeback matches despite being positioned in the co-main event of big pay-per-view cards each time.

In the end Abbott’s UFC career ended with him holding a record of 8-10, with losses ranging from knockouts to submissions.

Essentially without his wild charisma he would’ve likely been forgotten after his first UFC event and yet he was pushed as a big star for almost a decade.